Sustainability Report 2015
Employees
Our employees are one of our company's most important success factors. Employing successful staff on a long-term basis is one of the ten key points of our Group Strategy. With this in mind, we systematically support the professional growth, personal development and health-related well-being of our employees and enshrine this approach in the strategic principles governing our human resources management.
In the context of our Sustainability Strategy 2015-2017 we have defined concrete measures for employee development and employee advancement, which we are acting on purposefully and continuously expanding.
As a central interface function, Hannover Re's human resources management is steered worldwide from Home Office in Hannover. The Chief Executive Officer of Hannover Re, within whose scope of responsibility human resources falls, is responsible for ensuring that the measures defined in the Sustainability Strategy are realised.
In 2015, in keeping with the goals of our Sustainability Strategy 2015-2017, Hannover Re further expanded its measures in the field of employee development and employee advancement. Thanks to our new learning management system, our staff are also able to view and book many training opportunities online and they can access blended learning offerings through the system. Hannover Re safeguards the preservation of company-specific know-how among our managers through an established succession management process conducted every two years.
When it comes to preserving the well-being of our staff, we are continuing our commitment to health management with a focus on the prevention of disease.
For the first time in 2015 we evaluated the satisfaction of our staff in an international, Group-wide survey and we are delighted to see a very good overall level of satisfaction in the workforce. We are cultivating the positive working environment and the motivation of our employees through further measures geared to promoting a work-life balance. Our performance-based remuneration and extensive fringe benefits, combined with opportunities for part-time employment and tele-working, are conducive to a low staff turnover rate compared to the industry average.
One of the cornerstones of our successful business activities, along with our employees' skills and commitment, is the considerable degree of diversity in the workforce – since this is vital to safeguarding our high global quality standard. By expanding our mentoring programme we help women at our company to reflect on their professional development so far and take active steps to shape their future career path. Our range of seminars serves to develop all the company's employees and is designed to encourage a positive attitude towards life-long learning, even among our more seasoned staff.
For Hannover Re it goes without saying that in all the countries where we operate it is imperative to respect and observe the respective laws and regulations as the legal foundation of our business activities. There are also recommendations and standards handed down by national and international organisations. Hannover Re endorses the requirements contained in these conventions and recommendations and expects its employees, suppliers and business partners worldwide to observe them in their actions.
The co-determination of our staff is enshrined in their right to have a say through the Group-wide and/or local Employee Council. In addition, the three employee representatives on the Supervisory Board of Hannover Re ensure the participation of our staff in this oversight body.
When it comes to the formulation of employee rights, it is the applicable laws in the various countries that are determinative for Hannover Re. Along with these national statutory regulations, we are guided by the standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO), especially in relation to the issues of eliminating child and forced labour. Further human rights issues such as equal treatment and discrimination or the right to protection of personal data are governed by the Code of Conduct and our information security and data privacy policies, which are applicable to all employees of the Hannover Re Group.